The wife of a Bear man who built a secret underground bunker to grow marijuana may not be able to go to jail with him, but she’s going. Shakira Martinez has been sentenced in federal court to nine years in prison for money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and structuring bank transactions following a jury verdict in July of …
Wilmington crime report: Murders, shootings down in 2022
The number of murders in Wilmington was at its lowest for 15 years in 2022, and the number of shootings was the second lowest in 17 years, according to a new report issued by Delaware’s largest city. Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki and lame duck Chief of Police Robert J. Tracy on Tuesday released the Wilmington Police Departmentās 2022 Year-End Crime …
DOJ seeks other victims in Sussex child pornography case
State prosecutors are seeking help in the case of a Sussex County pastor charged with soliciting child porn. Leonard Eley, 62, the pastor of Storm Shelter Ministries in Laurel, was found with two photos of a naked underage person, said Caroline DeJose, a public information officer for the Delaware Department of Justice. Investigators said Eley paid for the photos of …
Drug smuggler with secret bunker in Bear jailed for 45 years
A Delaware man who made $1 million from smuggling cocaine and built a secret bunker under his house in Bear was sentenced this week in U.S. District Court to 45 years in prison . Omar Morales Colon, 45, had been convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and various other drug and money laundering offenses. …
Ocean View woman embezzled $1.1 million from Bethany company
An Ocean View woman who embezzled $1.1 million from the business she worked for is headed to federal prison for more than four years. Joan Donald, 55, was sentenced to 51 months on federal wire fraud and evasion charges stemming from embezzlement at high-end interior design and construction company Dovetail Inc. in Bethany Beach. According to court documents and court …
Wilmington gun violence report: Pay for lots more intervention
A report on reducing and preventing gun violence in Wilmington recommends the city fund several existing intervention organizations. create a coordinator position to oversee those groups and create more programming. Organizations that wanted to provide programming must have street level relationships and already actively engage in intervention work, the report from The Community Based Public Safety Collective. Mayor Mike Purzycki …
Delaware woman sent to prison for COVID relief funds theft
A Wilmington woman was sentenced this week to 31 months in jail for applying for and taking $246,000 in false claims for federal COVID-19 relief funds. Ana Soto, 41, who formerly lived in Newark, submitted 17 fraudulentĀ loan applications for Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act money. She had applied for as much as $746,000 in small …
Laurel father, son convicted for Jan. 6 Capitol actions
A Delaware father and son were found guilty today of felony and misdemeanor charges for their actions during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Kevin Seefried, 53, and his son, Hunter Seefried, 24, both of Laurel, Delaware, were found guilty of the felony offense of obstruction of an official proceeding on Jan. 6, 2021. They also were found guilty of four …